Questions & Answers about Bu kadın bir doktor.
Where is the word for 'is' in this sentence?
In Turkish, there is no separate word for 'is' like we have in English. For 'he', 'she', or 'it', the 'is' is simply understood from the context. So Bu kadın bir doktor literally reads as 'This woman a doctor'.
Since the current lesson is about kim (who), how would I ask 'Who is this woman?'
You would say Bu kadın kim? Notice that the question word kim goes at the end of the sentence, exactly in the spot where the answer (bir doktor) sits in our statement.
Could I use ne (what) to ask about her job?
Yes! You can ask Bu kadın ne? While this literally translates to 'What is this woman?', in Turkish it is perfectly normal and polite to use ne to ask about someone's profession.
Why is bir placed before doktor? Could I say Bu bir kadın doktor?
Bu kadın goes together to mean 'This woman'. If you moved the word order to Bu bir kadın doktor, the meaning changes to 'This is a female doctor' rather than 'This woman is a doctor'.